Lidstrom, with his six Norris Trophies, has to be considered the best defenseman of his generation.

When The Hockey News published its definitive The Top 100 NHL Players Of All-Time back in 1997, Nicklas Lidstrom was nowhere to be found. A lot has changed in the past dozen years.

Lidstrom has since collected four Cup rings, six Norris Trophies and nine first-team all-star selections (as well as one second-team berth). He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP in 2002. Most recently, he became the first European defenseman – and just the eighth in league history – to collect 1,000 NHL points.
So, maybe it’s time to rewrite history a bit and find a spot for Lidstrom among the game’s all-time greats. At least, let’s see where the smooth Swedish blueliner fits among the best rearguards the NHL has ever seen. And, as the best blueliner the league has seen in the past 20 years, the Red Wings great deserves to be slotted somewhere in the No. 15-20 range, among the very best NHLers of all-time.